


A Battle for Our Nation's Very Soul

by MonPetitParselmouth



Series: Endless Cycle of Vengeance [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alex reads too much Harry Potter, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Gen, Hamilton and Jefferson hate each other no matter the universe, LGBTQ Character, M/M, My First Fanfic, No that's not a mistake, Superhero Angelica, Superhero Eliza, Superhero Lafayette, Superhero Theodosia, Supervillain Lafayette, Supervillain Thomas, it'll be non-graphic though, only rated teen for violence/fighting in future installments, superhero alex, supervillain aaron, which is pretty much everyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-03-29 17:39:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13932015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonPetitParselmouth/pseuds/MonPetitParselmouth
Summary: One of the downsides to being a secret teenage superhero: it makes you late to class. Like, a lot.Scenario #1,263,845: Alex’s history class.(Or, the one where the founding fathers and a bunch of other random people from the 1800’s have superpowers for some inexplicable reason.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [All the Time in the World](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10242005) by [AdotHann](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdotHann/pseuds/AdotHann). 



James Madison @OfficialHeroWatch

Friday morning showdown between #Icarus and the #Arsonist.

 [ _Picture attached_ ]

 

Angelica Schuyler @neversatisfied

@OfficialHeroWatch Is Queensboro Bridge on fire???

 

James Madison @OfficialHeroWatch

@neversatisfied Yup.

 

Hercules Mulligan @clothier-to-genl

@OfficialHeroWatch @neversatisfied I don’t get it and I never will

 

Angelica Schuyler @neversatisfied

@clothier-to-genl Makes two of us, then.

 

»»-------------¤-------------««

 

One of the downsides to being a secret teenage superhero: it makes you late to class. Like, a lot. 

Scenario #1,263,845: Alex’s history class. 

“Sorry I’m late, Mrs. Washington,” he gasped as he dashed through the door and placed a hand on the wall to steady himself. His breath was coming in short, ragged spurts, chest heaving, and he tilted his leg a little to hide the blood dripping from it. 

His teacher raised an eyebrow but made no comment other than “Sit down, Mr. Hamilton,” for which he was eternally grateful. 

Alex willingly obliged, taking a moment to catch his breath, and silently thanked whatever deity might be listening that he could sprint fast enough to actually make it before passing out. _Stupid Arsonist,_ he thought venomously. _Who even tries to single-handedly destroy an_ entire bridge _at_ one in the afternoon _? I missed lunch break._

He tried at first, admittedly, to pay attention to what Mrs. Washington was saying, but honestly, that was a little hard when his mind was on the senile villains that constantly roamed New York City. He made a mental note to ask his boyfriend, John, to let him copy his notes for the class. John was used to his shenanigans; he wouldn’t be surprised. 

When the bell finally rang, Alex scrambled from his seat before anyone tried to interrogate him about his tardiness and skirted through the halls to his locker, stuffing his binders inside and glancing around him. Surreptitiously, Alex slid his phone out of his pocket. 

 

_Chat: how is this even our lives (aka trying to keep the city from getting blown up)_

 

Archangel: … Alex

 

Archangel: alex

 

bluephoenix: alex. alexANDER

 

the marquis: alex mon ami

 

Archangel: aLEX

 

lady liberty: @Icarus where r u

 

Archangel: I will not hesitate to track you down and throw a lightning bolt in your face

 

Icarus: I was in class for the sake of Merlin, shut up guys

 

the marquis: ‘for the sake of merlin’

 

Icarus: Stop.

 

Icarus: @Archangel Whatever it is, the Arsonist started it.

 

Archangel: you blew up a bridge

 

Icarus: Correction: the Arsonist blew up a bridge

 

bluephoenix: same difference really

 

Icarus: @bluephoenix foul betrayal :(

 

»»-------------¤-------------««

 

James Madison sighed heavily as he polished the counter for what must have been the hundredth time, staring aimlessly out the window. 

His part-time job at Butterfly Nectar Smoothies wasn’t the most exciting career in the world. He was never _technically_ part of the wild super action in the streets of NYC. He was stuck videotaping them and spreading them on Twitter or Instagram instead of actually engaging in social interactions. Like last week’s Icarus-Arsonist Brooklyn Bridge showdown. Or the battle between Archangel and Cataclysm at seven in the morning the week before that. Or Wraith’s underhanded attempt to somehow explode a bunch of sewer pipes (although James suspected that the Arsonist had a hand in the actual exploding part of it), the week before _that,_ at literally midnight _._

Or how very boring it was to make smoothies when literally no one came into the shop during his shift. 

Hey, he had to make a living somehow.

He made do, and he loved the exhilaration of life with supers in it, but his daily life wasn’t exactly what you would call _eventful,_ once you put aside the fact that he was at literally every super battle that ever happened _._

That is, until one Thomas Jefferson walked—more like strolled—into his life, right through the offensively neon-orange door of the smoothie shop. 

James glanced up at the ringing noise and had to channel all his inner professional-cashier to keep from gawking, because the guy was nearly six feet of drop-dead gorgeousness. He had curly black hair that fell to his shoulders, electric-blue eyes that had more depth than the deepest trenches of the Pacific, an obnoxiously magenta scarf, and smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. He seemed rather familiar, but James, distracted, put it down to having passed him in the street before. 

Surely he would have remembered someone that good-looking?

He was quickly snapped out of his half-stupor when the Magenta Boy said with an unfairly attractive southern accent, “Hi, can I get a medium raspberry smoothie, please, darlin’?”

“Oh—um—sure.” James quickly scrambled around, his back turned so that the Magenta Boy couldn’t see the blush quickly creeping up his cheeks _._

When the order was rung up and the Magenta Boy had taken his drink, he flashed James a cocky smile that made his palms begin to sweat. “Thanks,” he said, and then, “I’m Thomas, by the way.”

“James,” said James, pointing at his orange name tag, then felt stupid for doing that. 

Magenta Boy—no, _Thomas_ didn’t seem to notice, simply pulling a small, wrinkled piece of paper with a scribbled phone number from his pocket and sliding it across the counter to James. “You’re cute. Text me sometime.”

Barely half a second later, Thomas was out the door and had disappeared into the bustling street so fast he might have been the teleporting Arsonist himself. 

James’ hand clutched the piece of paper so tightly his circulation started to get cut off, his heart racing five times as fast as normal. 

_Well, darn it._

 

»»-------------¤-------------««

 

James Madison @OfficialHeroWatch

It’s been awfully calm around NYC this past week… 

 

Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette @psychoparkourist

@OfficialHeroWatch No doubt that will change soon. 

 

»»-------------¤-------------««

 

_Chat: where we plan the destruction of nyc_

 

arsonist: im bored

 

Wraith: We don't particularly care, Thomas. 

 

Wraith: And be quiet. Some of us are trying to work. 

 

arsonist: your GRAMMAR

 

arsonist: its killing me

 

Cataclysm: @arsonist well we cant have that now can we

 

arsonist: what, Aaron’s grammar killing me or me being bored

 

Cataclysm: the fact that you have such little comprehension that you couldn’t recognize sarcasm if it danced in front of you wearing dobby’s tea cozy

 

arsonist: that was uncalled for, cat

 

arsonist: i just feel like blowing something up

 

Cataclysm: u always feel like blowing something up

 

Wraith: @arsonist But it’s Saturday?

 

arsonist: and?

 

Wraith: nvm

 

Cataclysm: @Wraith @arsonist central park, six o’clock, full costume

 

Cataclysm: i have a Plan™ 

 

arsonist: and i have a bad feeling about this

 

Wraith: ∧

 

»»-------------¤-------------««

 

It wasn’t often that the resident supervillains of New York City teamed up, but when they did, it was pretty terrifying. 

The Arsonist had arrived first, decked in his usual vibrant shade of magenta. He teleported into the middle of Central Park with a burst of purplish-pink, a loud cracking noise, and several minor explosions in his general vicinity. This had caused the usual uproar, but he wasn’t really _doing_ anything other than casually regarding the mess caused by his—oh yeah, he had lit a fire, too. How typical. 

Next came Cataclysm, dark hood pulled over her masked face. She too was merely surveying the damage, although the benches were creeping across the ground like normal benches really tended not to, and—yup, random objects were starting to float into the air, too.

Last was Wraith, which was rather a surprise, seeing as he rarely showed up anywhere in public. Black veil over his head, dagger sheathed in his right leather boot, he stood in the exact center of the shadows that were beginning to crawl in an intricate dance around him. 

They moved at the exact same time, which just happened to be right when five superheroes dashed in on the scene. 

… That wasn’t particularly commonplace, either. 

Icarus, on the left, was in his usual metallic green suit and gold mask, and the Blue Phoenix, next to him, had donned her masquerade-type bird mask. Archangel, in her normal tint of pale pink, and Lady Liberty, an arrow nocked in her silver bow, stood back to back beside them. The Marquis, a new hero that had only surfaced the day before to assist Lady Liberty in one of her many clashes with Wraith, hovered behind all four of them.

“On my signal,” said Cataclysm quietly. Her right index finger twitched. 

Icarus had just enough time to say, “Wait, what?” before the Arsonist had whipped around, vanished, then reappeared right behind him, hands full of magenta flames, and Wraith had slid gracefully from shadow to shadow before lunging at Lady Liberty. Cataclysm waited a beat before slipping as well into their very well-thought-out plan, raising a gloved hand (which made the statue that the Marquis and Archangel were under crash to the ground, forcing them to dodge out of the way) and rapidly joining the fray. 

It was chaos. Crazy, unpredictable, beautiful, utter chaos. Icarus’ illusions and the Marquis’s arctic blasts whirled around them fluidly, clashing with the Arsonist’s random explosions. Archangel fired a bolt of lightning at hernemesis, Cataclysm, who retaliated by making razor-sharp blades of grass uproot themselves from the ground and fly at her. Wraith and _his_ nemesis, Lady Liberty, were moving so quickly around each other that they were reduced to a blur of silver and black. Screams echoed across the park, battle cries and shouted instructions tearing through the air. 

This was precisely why this sort of thing didn't happen often: the risk of death.

 

»»-------------¤-------------««

 

James Madison @OfficialHeroWatch

All-out battle in Central Park, feat. #Arsonist , #Icarus , #BluePhoenix , #Archangel , #Marquis , #Wraith , #Cataclysm , and #LadyLiberty ! 

[ _Picture attached_ ]

 

John @raiseaglasstoturtles

@OfficialHeroWatch Is everyone okay?

 

James Madison @OfficialHeroWatch

@raiseaglasstoturtles As far as I can tell from behind this tree, yes… 

 

James Madison @OfficialHeroWatch

Update on Central Park situation: #Archangel taken down by #Cataclysm , #BluePhoenix paused fighting to heal her, so we’ll see what happens

 

James Madison @OfficialHeroWatch

#Marquis and #Icarus seem to be arguing over something and currently have stopped fighting, so it’s two against three in villain’s favor 

[ _Picture attached_ ] 

 

James Madison @OfficialHeroWatch

Hold on, WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

 

James Madison @OfficialHeroWatch

#Marquis JUST THREW A DAGGER AT #Icarus ???!!!??

 

»»-------------¤-------------««

 

“I cannot do this.” 

Lafayette’s glare cut into Alexander—no, _Icarus_ , they were in costume. The fight had paused around them. 

Alexander—Icarus—sputtered out something unintelligible. “ _What_?”

“I cannot do this,” he repeated. “You are willing to _sacrifice_ the very _lives_ of innocent people in order to get to your nemesis.”

“I’m _saving_ their lives,” Icarus protested, holding up his hands as Lafayette took a step forward and interrupted him. 

“No, you are not,” Laf said, raising his voice. “You explicitly stated that you will not hesitate to destroy whatever is between you and the Arsonist.”

He held out his own hand, palm facing the sky, and focused, his other thoughts blurring and fading, as he imagined and strained and _pushed,_ until the water particles in the air formed a frozen dagger clutched in his fingers. 

“I will be no part of this,” Laf declared, loud enough for everyone to hear him, since he had always had a flair for the dramatic. He close his eyes, carefully drained himself of any pity, and hurled the ice dagger at Icarus with only a morsel of regret, because this was Icarus, not Alexander. It _wasn’t Alexander._

It struck him— _not Alexander not Alexander not Alexander—_ in the shoulder, and crimson blood instantly began to well up, contrasting sharply with the green. Icarus staggered back, and the Blue Phoenix leaped forward to catch him, her horror-struck gaze meeting Lafayette’s desperately through both their masks. Archangel stirred and raised her head from where she lay minorly wounded, and Lady Liberty’s grip on Wraith’s arm loosened as she stared at Laf in abject shock. 

“If we stop at nothing to go after those who have gone out of their way to _not_ hurt bystanders—” he gestured toward the unscathed people gaping at him from the sidelines, and then at Cataclysm, the Arsonist, and Wraith “—then we are worse by far than they could ever be.”

And with that he strode away, shoving away the growing terror at his own actions that was churning in his stomach. Revulsion—for himself, partly, but mostly for _them_ — pulsed in his body. 

_If this is what it is to be a ‘hero’, then that is not what I am._

 

»»-------------¤-------------««

 

“Well, that was. . . unexpected,” said the Arsonist hollowly, from the top of the random building where he had teleported himself, Cataclysm, and Wraith to. 

“You could say that,” agreed Cataclysm dryly, and when she pulled off her mask to reveal flawless copper skin, shining curls, and maroon lipstick, a ghost of a frown flickered over her face. “I thought you were certain it was Lafayette.”

“I _am_ ,” the Arsonist replied. 

Wraith tapped a finger against his veil-covered lips.. “So why, then, would he turn on the others?”

“You said he was really loyal,” Cataclysm reminded the Arsonist. 

“I did, but—”

“Shush,” intercepted Wraith, glancing around, his muscles tensed. “I’m one-hundred percent certain that neither of you are wrong, but I am also one-hundred precent certain that we will get caught soon if we carry on in the open like this.”

“Since when do you even have opinions?” the Arsonist grumbled, but he took hold of the other two’s arms. A resounding crack and a flash of magenta light saw the top of the building empty, as if they had never even been there.


	2. Note

Hey, just a note, I updated the series, but I forgot to mention that it would be a. . . _series_ , not an individual work, so it wouldn't tell you if you subscribed to/looked at this installment. So you'll have to go to the series to get new updates. or just press the next work button? I'm not really sure how that part of AO3 works. Any confusion this caused is my fault, sorry about that!

~Petit

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, I’m excited about this AU, but this installment doesn’t really flow like I wanted it to. ‘Tag yourself I’m Angelica’s Twitter handle’ pretty much describes my mood right now.  
> The next one will be better? Maybe?  
> Can anyone guess who any of the unnamed characters are? (They’re not listed in the tags so I don't give anyone away)
> 
> Okay, bye! Thanks for reading!  
> ~Petit
> 
> (This is Petit's mom. She's in middle school and I monitor her account. No inappropriate comments, please.)
> 
> ∧ my mom wrote that


End file.
